“Maintenance is the mark of civilization,” she said. “It is not sexy but necessary to keep sewage out of your house, out of your creeks and out of the bay.”

Building great works is fantastic and all, but single celled organisms can do that. Maintenance, however. Maintenance shows forethought and consistency and awareness of what we normally take for granted. A mark of civilization, indeed.

Deferred maintenance is a sin against our children and an insult to our patrimony. Deferred maintenance is our tithe to entropy and chaos. We shouldn’t pay this tithe, since chaos and entropy don’t need our support.